ArmInfo. In Armenia, economic activity growth accelerated to 7.3% annually in January-August 2026 (from 7.1% in the same period of 2025). Moreover, the industrial sector, having managed to turn recession into growth, has recovered as one of the drivers of economic growth. According to preliminary data from the RA Statistics Committee, foreign trade also turned from a double-digit decline into growth, supported mainly by an increase in imports and a partially slowing decline in exports.
According to statistics, the acceleration of economic activity growth in January-August 2026 was due to an improvement in the annual dynamics of the industrial sector, with a return to 7.4% growth from a 7.8% decline, and accelerated growth in the construction sector from 20.4% to 24.7%. The energy sector also maintained growth, with a slight slowdown from 7.1% to 5.3%. Meanwhile, the leading trade sector by volume continued to decline, from 3.9% to a nearly stagnant 0.7%. Meanwhile, the services sector, ranked second by volume, accelerated its growth from 10.2% to 12.8%.
According to statistics for January-August 2026, the trade sector retained its leadership in absolute value, with a volume of 4.4 trillion drams ($11.8 billion). The services sector ranks second by volume, with 3.03 trillion drams ($8.1 billion), and the industrial sector ranks third, with 2.1 trillion drams ($5.6 billion). The construction sector ranks fourth, with 471.6 billion drams ($1.3 billion) due to the lack of agricultural sector data in the report for this period. Electricity generation from January to August 2026 amounted to 6,268.4 million kWh, of which 819.7 million kWh was generated in August alone. [p>
Moreover, economic activity growth slowed from 7.5% to 5.2% in August 2026 compared to August 2025, with growth slowing slightly in August alone from 4.6% to 4.5% (compared to a slight acceleration in August 2025 from 5.3% to 5.4%). In particular, in August 2026, industrial sector growth stalled from 5.5% to 1.9%, while a year earlier in the same month, a noticeable acceleration in growth was observed from 7.4% to 10.7%. At the same time, in August of this year, growth in the construction sector quietly accelerated - from 16.1% to 16.9%, and in the service sector, the dynamics reversed from 2.8% growth to a 1.3% decline. Moreover, the trade sector in August of this year Growth remained strong, but with a noticeable slowdown from 7% to 1.3%. This was also observed in the energy sector, whose growth stalled sharply from a double-digit 16.8% to 3.6%. [p>
On a year-over-year basis (August 2026 vs. August 2025), all sectors demonstrated an upward trend, except for the industrial sector and energy sector, which declined by 4.3% and 4%, respectively. Specifically, the construction sector demonstrated the highest annual growth at 23.8%, followed by the services sector at 11.4% and, far behind, the trade sector at 0.1%. A year earlier, in August 2025, compared to August 2024, all sectors experienced growth: construction by 21.1%, energy by 17%, services by 6.7%, industrial sector by 5.8%, and trade by 1.7%. Against this backdrop, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in January-August 2026 amounted to 4.9 trillion drams ($13.3 billion), an increase of 3.2% year-on-year (versus a 41.1% decline a year earlier). This was due to an improvement in import dynamics from a 34.9% decline to 9.3% growth and a sharp slowdown in export decline from 48.8% to 6.5%. As a result, the absolute value of exports for January-August 2026 amounted to 1.7 trillion drams ($4.6 billion), while imports amounted to 3.2 trillion drams ($8.7 billion).
In August 2026, compared to August 2025, foreign trade turnover also recovered from a 33.7% decline to a 9.8% growth rate. Specifically, improved dynamics were noted for imports, with a 14.9% growth rate from a 28.3% decline, and for exports, with a 1.3% growth rate from a 40.8% decline. In August of this year alone, Foreign trade turnover deteriorated from 9.2% growth to a 13.3% decline, as a result of both imports reversing from 11.1% growth to a 17.5% decline, and exports reversing from 5.3% growth to a 4% decline. A year earlier, in August 2025, foreign trade also declined by 13.8%, due to imports declining by 12.1% and exports declining faster to 16.5%.
It should be noted that, starting in 2023, the methodology for calculating electricity generation volumes in statistical reports has changed, specifically including electricity generated by independent generators. For the agricultural sector, data is published only in quarterly and annual statistical reports. (The average exchange rate for the dram in January-August 2026 was 372.29 drams/$1).
